tropical cyclone

On 3rd May the extremely severe tropical cyclone Fani (pronounced as ‘Foni’) made landfall in the east Indian state Odishi. It reached sustained maximum wind speeds of 185-195 km/h with gusts to 205 km/h on land. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that it weakened moving north-noth-eastwards towards West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The Fujiwhara effect is a rare phenomenon that sees nearby cyclones ‘dancing’ round each other. In July it was seen not once, but twice*: Hurricanes Hilary and Irwin rotated round each other in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico generating high surf for Southern California; whilst thousands of miles away in the western Pacific east of Japan just days earlier, Typhoon Noru and Tropical Storm Kulap spun round each other*.

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